SENATE,  March  3,  1865.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 
[By  Mr.  Watson.] 


REPORT 

Of  the  Joint  Select  Committee  appointed  to  investigate  the  Condition  and 
(Treatment  of  Prisonerpof  War. 


The  duties  assigned  to  the  committee  under  the  several  resolutions 
of  Congress  designating  them,  are  "to  investigate  and  report  upon 
the  condition  and  treatment  of  the  prisoners  of  war  respectively  held 
by  the  Confederate  and  United  States  governments;  upon  the  causes 
of  their  detention,  and  the  refusal  to  exchange;  and  also  upon  the 
violtitions  by  the  enemy  of  the  rules  of  civilized  warfare  in  the  con- 
duct of  the  war."  These  subjects  are  broad  in  extent  and  impor- 
tance; and  in  order  fully  to  investigate  and  present  them,  the  com- 
mittee propose  to  continue  their  labors  in  obtaining  evidence,  and 
deducing  from  it  a  truthful  report  of  facts  illustrative  of  the  spirit  in 
which  the  war  has  been  conducted. 

Northern  Publications. 

But  we  deem  it  proper  at  this  time  to  make  a  preliminary  report, 
founded  upon  evidence  recently  taken,  relating  to  the  treatment  of 
prisoners  of  war  by  both  belligerents.  This  report  is  rendered  spe- 
cially important,  by  reason  of  persistent  etlbrts  lately  made  by  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  and  by  associations  and  individuals 
connected  or  co-operating  with  it,  to  asperse  the  honor  of  the  Con- 
federate auth(jrities,  and  to  cliaiiie  them  with  deliberate  and  willful 
cruelty  to  prisoners  of  war.  Two  publications  have  been  issued  at 
the  North  within  the  past  year,  and  have  been  circulated  not  only  in 
the  United  States,  luit  m  some  |»art8  of  the  South,  and  in  Europe. 
One  of  these  is  tln'  rep(»rt  «)1  the  joint  select  committee  of  the 
Northern  Congress  hm  the  coiidnct  of  the  war,  known  as  "Report 
No.  'w."  The  otlin-  jiurpoits  to  be  a  "Narrative  of  the  privations 
and  siitferings  oi'  I'l  led  Stat*  s  otlicers  and  soldiers  while  pris(Hn  rs  of 
war,"  and  is  issued  as  a  report  of  a  commission  of  enquiry  appointed 
by  "The  United  States  sanitarv  connnission." 

This  body  is  alle  -ed  t(.  consist  ot  Valentine  ]\[ott,  M.  D.,  Edward 
Delalield,  i\I.  D..  Ooiiv  niiur  Monis  Wilkins.  Fs(|nire.  Ellerslir  AVal- 
lacr.   M.  D.,  Hon.  .1    .1.  Ch.rke   Hare,  and    Kev.  Treadwell  Waldea 


Although  these  persons  are  not  of  sufficient  public  importance  and 
weight  to  give  authority  to  their  publication,  yet  your  committee 
have  deemed  it  proper  to  notice  it  in  connection  with  the  "Keport 
No.  67,"  before  mentioned,  because  the  sanitary  commission  has  been 
understood  to  have  acted  to  a  great  extent  under  the  control  and  by 
the  authority  of  the  United  States  government,  and  because  their 
report  claims  to  be  founded  on  evidence  taken  in  solemn  form. 

Their  Spirit  and  Intent. 

A  candid  reader  of  these  publications  will  not  fail  to  discover  that, 
whether  the  statements  they  mak»'  be  true  or  not,  their  spirit  is  not 
adaptt'd  to  promote  a  better  feeling  between  the  hostile  powers. 
They  are  not  intended  for  the  hunume  purpose  of  ameliorating  the 
condition  of  the  unhappy  prisoners  held  in  captivity.  They  are  de- 
signed to  inflame  the  evil  passions  of  the  North;  to  keep  up  the  war 
spirit  among  their  own  people;  to  repn's«;nt  the  South  as  acting  un- 
der the  dominion  of  a  spirit  of  cruelty,  inhumanity  and  iut»Mested 
malice,  and  thus  to  vilify  her  people  in  the  eyes  of  all  on  whom 
these  publications  can  work.  They  are  justly  characterized  by  the 
Hon.  James  M.  Mason  as  belonging  to  that  class  of  literature  called 
the  "sensational," — a  style  of  writing  prevalent  for  many  years  at 
the  North,  and  which,  beginning  with  the  writers  of  newspa[)i'r  nar- 
ratives and  cheap  liction,  has  gradually  extended  itself,  ujitil  it  is  now 
the  favored  mode  ado[>ted  by  medical  professors,  judges  of  courts  and 
reverend  clergynum,  and  is  even  chosen  as  the  proper  style  for  a 
report  by  a  committee  of  their  Congress. 

Photogra2)hs. 

Nothing  can  better  illustrate  the  truth  of  this  view  than  the  "Re- 
port No.  07,"  and  its  ap[)endages.  It  is  accoun)anied  by  eight  pic- 
tures, or  photosrupfis,  alleged  to  represent  UnittMl  States  j)risoiiers  of 
war,  returned  from  Richmond,  in  a  sad  state  of  emaciation  and  suf- 
fering. Concerning  these  cases,  your  committcii  will  have  other 
remarks,  to  be  piesently  submitted.  They  are  only  alluded  to  now 
to  show  that  this  report  does  really  belong  to  the  "sensational"  class 
of  literature,  and  that,  "prima  facie,"  it  is  open  to  the  same  criticism 
to  which  the  yellow  covered  novels,  the  "narratives  of  noted  high- 
waymen," and  the  "awful  beacons"  ot  the  Noitliern  book  stalls 
should  be  subjected. 

The,  intent  and  sj)irit  of  this  report  may  be  gathered  from  the 
following  extract:  "The  evidence  proves,  beyond  all  maimer  of 
doubt,  a  determination  on  the  [>art  of  the  rebel  authorities,  delibe- 
rately and  persistently  [)racticed  for  a  long  time  past,  to  subject  those 
of  our  soldiers  who  have  been  so  unfortunate  as  lo  fall  in  their  hands, 
to  a  system  of  treatment  which  has  resulted  in  reducing  many  of 
those  who  have  survived  and  been  permitted  to  return  to  us,  to  a 
condition  both  physically  and  mentally,  which  no  language  we  can 


use  can  adequately  describe." — Report,  p.  i .  And  they  give  also  a 
letter  from  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  the  Northern  Secretary  of  War,  from 
which  the  following  is  an  extract:  "The  enormity  of  the  ciime 
committed  by  the  Rebels  towards  our  prisoners  for  the  last  several 
months,  is  not  known  or  realized  by  our  people,  and  cannot  but  fill 
with  horror  the  civilized  world,  when  the  facts  are  fully  revealed. 
There  appears  to  have  been  a  deliberate  system  of  savage  and  bar- 
barous treatment  and  starvation,  the  result  of  which  will  be  that  few 
(if  any)  of  the  prisoners  that  have  been  in  their  hands  during  the 
past  winter,  will  ever  again  be  in  a  condition  to  render  any  service, 
or  even  to  enjoy  life." — Report,  p.  4.  And  the  sanitary  commission, 
in  their  pamphlet,  after  picturing  many  scenes  of  privation  and 
suffering,  and  bringing  mnny  charges  of  cruelty  against  the  Confede- 
rate authorities,  declare  as  follows:  "The  conclusion  is  unavoidable, 
therefore,  that  these  privations  and  sufferings  have  been  designedly 
inflicted  by  the  military  and  other  authorities  of  the  Rebel  govern- 
ment, and  could  not  have  been  due  to  causes  which  such  authorities 
could  not  control." — P.  95. 

Truth  to  be  sought. 

After  examining  these  publications,  your  committee  approached 
the  subject  with  an  earnest  desire  to  ascertain  the  trvth.  If  their 
investigation  should  result  in  ascertaining  that  these  charges  (or  any 
of  them)  were  true,  the  committee  desired,  as  far  as  might  be  in  their 
power,  and  as  far  as  they  could  influence  the  Congress,  to  remove 
the  evils  complained  of,  and  to  conform  to  the  most  humane  spirit  of 
civilization  :  and  if  these  charges  were  unfounded  and  false,  they 
deemed  it  a  sacred  duty,  without  delay,  to  present  to  the  Confederate 
Congress  and  people,  and  to  the  public  eye  of  the  enlightened  world, 
a  vindication  of  their  country,  and  to  relieve  her  authorities  fVom  the 
injurious  slanders  brought  against  her  by  her  enemies.  With  these 
views,  we  have  taken  a  considerable  amount  of  testimony  bearing  on 
the  subject.  We  have  sought  to  obtain  witnesses  whose  position  or 
duties  made  them  familiar  with  the  facts  testified  to,  and  whose 
chara<-ters  entitled  them  to  full  credit.  We  have  not  hesitated  to 
examine  Northern  prisoners  of  war  upon  points  and  experience 
specially  within  their  knowledge.  We  now  present  the  testimony 
taken  by  us,  and  submit  u  report  of  fncts  and  inferences  fairly  de- 
ducible  fVom  the  evidence,  from  the  admissions  of  our  enemies,  and 
from  public  records  of  undoubted  authority. 

Facts  as  to  Sick  and   Wounded  Prisoners. 

First  in  order,  your  committee  will  notice  the  charge  contained 
both  in  "Report  No.  07,"  and  in  the  "sanitary"  publication,  founded 
on  tht"  appearance  and  (^(Uidition  of  the  sick  prisoners  sent  from  Rich- 
nioiid  to  Annapolis  and  Baltimore  about  the  last  of  April  18G4:. 
These  are  the  men,  some  of  whom  form  the  subjects  of  the  photo- 


graphs  with  which  the  United  States  congressional  committee  have 
adorned  their  report.  The  disingenuous  attempt  is  made  in  both 
these  publications  to  produce  the  impression  that  these  sick,  and 
emaciated  men  were  fair  representatives  of  the  general  state  of  the 
prisoners  held  by  the  South,  and  that  all  their  prisoners  were  being 
rapidly  reduced  to  the  same  state,  by  starvation  and  cruelty,  and  by 
neglect,  ill  treatment  and  denial  of  proper  food,  stimulants  and  medi- 
cines, in  the  Confederate  hospitals.  Your  committee  take  pleasure 
in  saying  that  not  only  is  this  charge  proved  to  be  wholly  false,  but 
the  evidence  ascertains  facts  as  to  the  Confederate  hospitals,  in  which 
Northern  prisoners  of  war  are  treated,  highly  creditable  to  the  au- 
thorities which  established  them,  and  to  the  surgeons  and  their  aids 
who  have  so  humanely  conducted  them.  The  facts  are  sim[)ly  these: 
The  Federal  authorities,  in  violation  of  the  cartel,  having  for  a  long 
time  refused  exchange  of  prisoners,  finally  consented  to  a  partial  ex- 
change of  the  sick  and  wonnd(^d  on  both  sides.  Accordingly,  a  num- 
ber of  such  prisoners  were  sent  from  the  hospitals  in  Richmond. 
General  directions  liad  been  given  that  none  should  be  sent  except 
those  who  might  be  expected  to  endiu-e  the  removal  and  passage 
with  safety  to  their  lives;  bat  in  some  cases  the  surgeons  were  in- 
duced to  depart  from  this  rule,  by  the  entreaties  of  some  officers  and 
men  in  the  last  stages  of  emaciation,  sulfering  not  only  with  excessive 
debility,  but  with  "nostalgia,"  or  home  sickness,  whose  cases  were 
regarded  as  desperate,  and  who  could  not  live  if  they  remained,  and 
might  possibly  improve  if  carried  home.  Thus  it  happened  that 
some  very  sick  and  emaciated  men  were  carried  to  Annapolis,  but 
their  illness  was  not  the  result  of  ill  treatment  or  neglect.  Such 
cases  might  be  found  in  any  large  hospital,  Noith  or  South.  They 
might  even  be  found  in  private  families,  where  the  sufferer  would  be 
surrounded  by  every  comfort  that  love  could  bestow.  Yet  these  are 
the  cases  which,  with  hideous  violation  of  decency,  the  Northern 
committee  have  ))araded  in  pictures  and  pliotographs.  They  have 
taken  their  own  sick  and  enfeebled  soldiers;  have  stripped  them 
naked;  have  exposed  theni  before  a  daguerreian  apparatus;  have  pic- 
tured every  shrunken  limb  and  muscle — and  all  for  the  purpose,  not 
of  relieving  tlieir  sufferings,  but  of  bringing  a  false  and  slanderous 
charge  against  the  South. 

Confederate  Sick  and   Wounded — their  Conditio?i  when  returned. 

The  evidence  is  overwhelming  that  the  illness  of  these  prisoners 
was  not  the  result  of  ill  treatment  or  negh'ct.  The  testimony  of 
Surgeons  Semple  and  Spence;  of  Assistant  Surgeons  Tinsley,  Mar- 
riott and  Miller,  and  of  the  Federal  prisoners,  E.  P.  Dalrymple,  Geo. 
Henry  Brown  and  Freeman  B.  T(*ague,  ascertains  this  to  the  satis- 
faction of  every  candid  mind.  But  in  refuting  this  charge,  your  com- 
mittee are  compelled  by  the  evidence  to  bring  a  counter  charge 
against  the  Northern  authorities,  which  they  fear  will  not  be  so  easily 
refuted.  In  exchange,  a  number  of  Confederate  sick  and  wounded 
prisoners  have  been  at  various  times  delivered  at  Richmond  and  at 


Savannah.  The  mortality  among  these  on  the  passage  and  their 
condition  when  delivered  were  so  deplorable  as  to  justify  the  charge 
that  they  had  been  treated  with  inhuman  neglect  by  the  Northern 
authorities. 

Assistant  Surg.  Tinsley  testifies:  "I  have  seen  many  of  our  pri- 
soners returned  from  the  North,  who  were  nothing  but  skin  and 
bones.  They  were  as  emaciated  as  a  man  could  be  to  retain  life,  and 
the  photographs  (appended  to  '  Report  No.  67,')  would  not  be  exag- 
gerated represcMitations  of  our  returned  prisoners  to  whom  I  tiius 
allude.  I  saw  250  of  our  sick  brought  in  on  litters  from  the  steamer 
at  Rocketts.  Thirteen  dead  bodies  were  brought  off  the  steanu'r 
the  same  night.  At  least  thirty  died  in  one  night  after  tht^y  were 
received." 

Surg.  Spence  testifies:  "I  was  at  Savannah,  and  saw  rather  over 
three  thousand  prisoners  received.  The  list  showed  that  a  huge 
number  had  died  on  the  passage  from  Baltimore  to  Savannah.  The 
number  sent  from  the  Federal  }»risons  was  .3,500,  and  out  of  that 
number  they  delivered  only  3, OSS,  to  the  best  of  my  recollection. 
Ca[)t.  Hatch  can  give  you  the  exact  number.  Thus,  about  J 72  died 
on  the  passage.  I  was  told  that  67  dead  bodies  had  been  taken 
from  one  train  of  cars  between  Palmira  and  J'>altimort'.  After  beinff 
received  at  Savannah,  they  had  the  best  attention  ))i»ssible,  yet  many 
died  in  a  few  days." — "In  carrying^  out  the  exchange  of  disabled, 
sick  and  wounded  men,  we  delivered  at  Savannah  and  Charleston 
about  11,000  Federal  prisoners,  and  their  physical  condition  com- 
pared most  favorably  with  those  we  received  in  exchange,  although 
of  course  the  worst  cases  among  the  Confederates  had  been  removed 
by  death  during  the  })assage." 

Richard  H.  Dibrell,  a  merchant  of  Richmond,  and  a  member  of 
the  "ambulance  committee,"  whose  labors  in  mitigating  the  sulfer- 
ings  of  the  wounded  have  been  acknowledged  both  by  Confederate 
and  Northern  men,  thus  testifies  concerning  our  sick  and  wounded 
soldiers  at  Savannah,  returned  from  Northern  prisons  and  hospitals: 
"  I  have  never  seen  a  set  of  men  in  worse  condition.  They  were  so 
enfeebhxl  and  emaciated  that  we  lifted  them  like  little  children. 
jMany  of  them  were  like  living  skeletons.  Indeed,  then"  was  one 
poor  boy  about  17  years  old,  who  presented  the  most  distressing  and 
deplorable  appearance  I  ever  saw.  He  was  nothing  but  skin  and 
bone,  and  besides  this,  he  was  literally  eaten  up  with  vermin.  He 
died  in  the  hospital  in  a  few  days  after  being  removed  thither,  not* 
withstanding  the  kindest  treatment  and  the  use  of  the  most  judicious 
nourishment.  Our  men  were  in  so  reduced  a  condition,  that  on 
more  than  one  trip  up  on  the  short  passage  of  ten  miles  from  the 
transports  to  the  city,  as  many  as  five  died.  The  clothing  of  the 
privates  was  in  a  wretched  stat(>  of  tatters  and  filth." — "The  mortality 
on  th.e  passage  from  IMaryland  was  very  great  as  well  as  that  on  the 
passage  from  the  prisons  to  the  port  from  which  they  started.  I  can- 
not state  the  exact  number,  but  I  think  I  heard  that  3,-')00  were 
started,  and  we  only  received  about  3,027." — "  I  have  looked  at  the 
photographs  appended  to  '  Repoit  No.  67'  of  the  committee  of  the 


4 

Federal  Congress,  and  do  not  hesitate  to  declare  that  several  of  oiir 
men  were  WDrse  cases  of  einaciation  and  sickness  than  any  repre- 
sented in  these  photographs." 

The  testimony  of  Mr.  Dibrell  is  confirmed  by  that  of  Andrew  John- 
ston, also  a  merchant  of  Richmond,  and  a  member  of  the  "  ambulance 
committee." 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  sick  and  wounded  Federal  prisoners  at 
Annapolis,  whose  condition  has  been  made  a  subject  of  outcry  and 
of  wide  spread  comjdaint  by  the  Northern  Congress,  were  not  in  a 
worse  state  than  were  the  Confederate  prisoners  returned  from  North- 
ern hospitals  and  prisons,  of  which  the  humanity  and  superior  man- 
agen)ent  are  made  subjects  of  special  boasting  by  the  United  States 
sanitary  commission  ! 

Confederate  Hospitals  for  Prisoners. 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  your  committee  take  pleasure  in 
reporting  the  facts  ascertained  by  their  investigations  concerning  the 
Confederate  hospitals  for  sick  and  wounded  Federal  prisoners.  They 
have  made  personal  examination,  and  liave  taken  evidence  s[»ecially 
in  rehition  to  "  Hospital  No.  21,"  in  Richmond,  because  this  has  been 
made  the  subject  of  distinct  charge  in  the  publication  last  mentioned. 
It  has  been  shown  not  only  by  Jhe  evidence  of  the  surgeons  and  their 
assistants,  but  by  that  of  Federal  prisoners,  that  the  treatment  of  the 
Nortliern  prisoners  in  these  hospitals  has  been  every  thing  that  human- 
ity could  dictate;  that  their  wards  have  been  well  ventilated  and 
clean  ;  their  food  the  best  that  could  be  procured  for  them — and  in 
fact,  that  no  distinction  has  been  made  between  their  treatment  and 
that  of  our  own  sick  and  wounded  men.  Moreover,  it  is  proved  that 
it  has  been  the  constant  practice  to  su[)ply  to  the  patients,  o7it  of  the 
hospital  funds,  such  articles  as  milk,  butter,  eggs,  tea  and  other  deli- 
cacies, when  they  were  required  by  the  condition  of  the  patient. 
This  is  proved  by  the  testimony  of  E.  P.  Dairy mple  of  New  York, 
George  Henry  Brown  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Freeman  B.  Teague  of 
New  Hampshire,  whose  depositions  accompany  this  report. 

Co7Urast. 

This  humane  and  considerate  usage  was  not  adopted  in  the  United 
States  hospital  on  Johnson's  Island,  where  Confederate  sick  and 
wounded  officers  were  treated.  Col.  J.  H.  Holman  thus  testifies: 
"The  Federal  authorities  did  not  furnish  to  the  sick  prisoners  the 
nutriment  and  other  articles  which  were  prescribed  by  their  own  sur- 
geons. All  they  would  do  was  to  permit  the  prisoners  to  buy  the 
nutriment  or  stimulants  needed  ;  and  if  they  had  no  money,  they 
could  not  get  them.  I  know  this,  for  I  was  in  the  hospital  sick 
myself,  and  I  had  to  buy,  myself,  such  articles  as  eggs,  milk,  flour, 
chickens  and  butter,  after  their  doctors  had  prescribed  them.  And  I 
know  this  was  generally  the  case,  for  we  had  to  get  up  a  fund  among 


ourselves  for  this  purpose,  to  aid  those  who  were  not  well  supplied 
with  money."  This  statement  is  confirmed  by  the  testimonv  of 
acting  assistant  surgeon  John  J.  IMiller,  who  was  at  Johnson's  Island 
for  more  than  eight  months.  When  it  is  remembered  that  sueli  arti- 
cles as  eggs,  milk  and  butter  were  very  scarce  and  high  priced  in 
Richmond,  and  plentiful  and  cheap  at  the  North,  the  contrast  thus 
presented  may  well  put  to  shame  the  "sanitary  commission,"  and 
dissipate  the  self-complacency  with  which  they  have  boasted  of  the 
superior  humanity  in  the  Northern  prisons  and  hospitals. 

Charge  of  Robbing  Prisoners. 

Your  committee  now  proceed  to  notice  other  charges  in  these  pub- 
lications. It  is  said  that  their  prisoners  were  habitually  stripped  of 
blankets  and  other  proi)erty,  on  being  captured.  What  pillage  may 
have  been  committed  on  the  battle  field,  after  the  excitement  of  com- 
bat, your  committee  cannot  know.  P)Ut  they  feel  well  assured  that 
such  pillage  was  never  encouraged  by  the  Confederate  generals,  and 
bore  no  comparison  to  the  wholesale  robbery  and  destitution  to  which 
the  Federal  armies  have  abandoned  themselves,  in  possessing  parts 
of  our  territory.  It  is  certain  that  after  the  prisoners  were  brought 
to  the  Libby,  and  other  prisons  in  Richmond,  no  such  pillage  was 
permitted.  Only  articles  which  came  properly  under  the  lu3ad  of 
munitions  of  war,  were  taken  from  them. 

Shooting  Prisoners. 

The  next  charge  noticed  is,  that  the  guards  around  the  Libby  pri- 
son were  in  the  habit  of  recklessly  and  inhumanly  shooting  at  the 
prisoners,  upon  the  most  frivolous  pretexts,  and  that  the  Confederate 
officers,  so  far  from  forbidding  this,  rather  encouraged  it,  and  made  it 
a  subject  of  sportive  remark.  This  charge  is  wholly  false  and  base- 
less. The  "Rules  and  Regulations"  appended  to  the  deposition  of 
Maj.  Thomas  P.  Turner,  ex[)ressly  provide,  "Nor  shall  any  prisoner 
be  fired  u[)on  by  a  sentinel  or  other  person,  except  in  case  of  revolt 
or  attempted  escape."  Five  or  six  cases  have  occurred,  in  which 
prisoners  have  been  fired  on  and  killed  or  hurt:  but  every  case  has 
been  made  the  subject  of  careful  investigation  and  report,  as  will  ap- 
pear by  the  <n'idence.  As  a  proper  comment  on  this  charge,  your 
committee  report  that  the  practice  of  firing  on  our  prisoners  by  the 
guards  in  tln'  Northern  prisons,  appears  to  have  bc^en  indulged  in  to 
a  most  brutal  and  atrocious  extent.  See  the  depositions  of  C.  C. 
Herrington,  Wui.  F.  Gordon,  Jr.,  J.  B.  McCreary,  Dr.  Thomas  P. 
Hollovvay,  and  John  P.  Fennell.  At  Fort  Delaware,  a  cruel  regula- 
tion as  to  the  use  of  the  "sinks,"  was  made  the  pretext  for  firing  on 
and  murdering  several  of  our  men  and  officers — among  them,  Lieut. 
Col.  Jones,  who  was  lame,  and  was  shot  down  by  the  sentinel  while 
helpless  and  feeble,  and  while  seeking  to  explain  his  condition.  Yet 
this  sentinel  was  not  only  not  punished,  but  was  promoted  for  his 


act.  At  Camp  Douglas,  as  many  as  eighteen  of  our  men  are  re- 
ported to  have  been  shot  in  a  single  month.  These  facts  may  well 
produce  a  conviction  in  the  candid  observer,  that  it  is  the  North  and 
not  the  South  that  is  open  to  the  charge  of  deliberately  and  v^illfully 
destroying  the  lives  of  the  prisoners  held  by  her. 

Meaiis  for  securing  Cleanliness. 

The  next  charge  is,  that  the  Libby  and  Belle  Isle  prisoners  were 
habitually  kept  in  a  filthy  condition,  and  that  the  officers  and  men 
confined  there  were  prevented  from  keeping  themselves  sufficiently 
clean  to  avoid  vermin  and  similar  discomforts.  The  evidence  clearly 
contradicts  this  charge.  It  is  proved  by  the  depositions  of  Maj. 
Turner,  Lieut.  Bossieux,  Rev.  Dr.  McCabe,  and  others,  that  the  pri- 
sons were  kept  constantly  and  systematically  policed  and  cleansed; 
that  in  the  Libby  there  was  an  ample  supply  of  water  conducted  to 
each  floor  by  the  city  pipes,  and  that  the  prisoners  were  not  only  not 
restricted  in  its  use,  but  urged  to  keep  themselves  clean.  At  Belle 
Isle,  for  a  brief  season  (about  three  weeks),  in  consequence  of  a  sud- 
den increase  in  the  number  of  prisoners,  the  police  was  interrupted, 
but  it  was  soon  restored,  and  ample  means  for  washing  both  them- 
selves and  their  clothes,  were  at  all  times  furnished  to  the  prisoners. 
It  is  doubtless  true,  that  nothwithstanding  these  facilities,  many  of 
the  prisoners  were  lousy  and  filthy;  but  it  was  the  result  of  their 
own  habits,  and  not  of  neglect  in  the  discipline  or  arrangements  of 
the  prison.  Many  of  the  prisoners  were  captured  and  brought  in 
while  in  this  condition.  The  Federal  General  Neal  Dow  well  ex- 
pressed their  character  and  habits.  When  he  came  to  distribute 
clothing  among  them,  he  was  met  by  profane  abuse,  and  he  said  to 
the  Confederate  officer  in  charge,  "You  have  here  the  scrapinyrs  and 
raJcingrs  of  Europe.^''  That  such  men  should  be  filthy  in  their  habits, 
might  be  expected. 

Charge  of  withholding  and  pillaging  Boxes. 

We  next  notice  the  charge  that  the  boxes  of  provisions  and  cloth- 
ing sent  to  the  prisoners  from  the  North,  were  not  delivered  to  them, 
and  were  habitually  robbed  and  plundered,  by  permission  of  the  Con- 
federate authorities.  The  evidence  satisfies  your  committee  that 
this  charge  is,  in  all  substantial  points,  untrue.  For  a  period  of 
about  one  month  there  was  a  stoi)p!ige  in  tlie  delivery  of  boxes, 
caused  by  a  report  that  the  Federal  authorities  were  forbidding  the 
delivery  of  similar  supplies  to  our  prisoneis.  But  the  boxes  were 
put  in  a  warehouse,  and  were  afterwards  delivered.  For  some  time 
no  search  was  made  of  boxes  froui  tlie  "sanitary  committee,"  in- 
tended for  the  prisoners'  hospitals.  But  a  letter  was  intercepted, 
advising  that  money  should  be  sent  in  these  boxes,  "as  they  were 
never  searched;"  which  money  was  to  be  used  in  bribing  the  giuirds, 
and  thus  releasing  the  prisoners.     After  this,  it  was  deemed  neces- 


sary  to  search  every  box,  which  necessarily  produced  some  delay. 
Your  committee  are  satisfied  that  if  these  boxes  or  their  contents 
were  robbed,  the  prison  officials  are  not  responsible  therefor.  Be- 
yond doubt,  robberies  were  often  committed  by  prisoners  themselves, 
to  whom  the  contents  were  delivered  for  distribution  to  their  owners. 
Notwithstanding  all  this  alleged  pillage,  the  supplies  secni  to  have 
been  sufficient  to  keep  the  ((uarters  ot  the  [irisoneis  so  well  fiiinished 
that  they  frequently  presented,  in  the  language  of  a  witness,  "the 
appearance  of  a  large  grocery  store." 

The  Federal  Colonel  Sandcrso?i' s   Testimotiy. 

In  connection  with  this  point,  your  committee  refer  to  the  testi- 
mony of  a  Federal  officer,  Colonel  James  M.  Sanderson,  whose  letter  ^ 
il  annexed  to  tln>  deposition  of  Miijor  Turner.  He  testifies  to  the  full" 
delivery  of  the  clothing  and  suppli(>s  from  the  North,  and  to  the  hu- 
manity and  kindness  of  the  Confederate  officers — specially  mention- 
ing Lieut.  Bossieux,  commanding  on  Belle  Isle.  His  letter  was  ad- 
dressed to  the  president  of  the  United  States  snnitarv  eonniiission,  and 
was  be^'^ond  doubt  received  by  them,  having  been  forwarded  l)y  the 
regular  H;ig  of  truce.  Y(>t  the  S('ruj)ulous  and  honest  gentlemen  com- 
posing thai  connnission,  have  not  found  it  convenient  for  their  pur- 
poses to  insert  this  letter  in  their  publication  !  Had  they  been  really 
searching  for  the  trufh,  this  letter  would  have  aided  them  in  finding-it. 

Mine  under  the  L'lbbrj   Fruon.  * 

Your  committee  proceed  next  to  notice  the  allegation  that  the 
Confederate  authorities  had  prepared  a  mine  under  the  Libby  prison, 
and  placed  in  it  a  quantity  of  gun|towder  for  the  purpose  of  blowing 
up  the  buildings,  with  their  inmates,  in  case  of  an  attempt  to  rescue 
them.  After  ascertaining  nil  tht'  fiicts  benring  on  this  subject,  vour 
committee  believe  that  what  was  done  under  the  circumstances,  will 
meet  a  verdict  of  appmival  from  all  whose  prejudices  do  not  blind 
them  to  the  truth.  The  state  of  things  was  unprecedented  in  his- 
tory, and  must  be  judged  of  according  to  the  motives  at  work,  and 
the  result  aceomplislu'd.  A  Inrge  body  of  Northern  raiders,  undcT 
one  Col.  Dalilgren,  wns  approaching  h'ichhiond.  It  was  ascertained, 
by  the  reports  of  prisoners  captured  from  them,  and  oth.-r  evidence, 
that  their  design  was  to  enter  the  city,  to  set  fire  to  the  i'uildings, 
public  and  private,  for  which  purpose  turpentine  balls  in  great  num- 
ber had  been  prepared;  to  murder  the  President  of  the  Confederate  - 
States,  and  other  prominent  men  ;  to  release  the  prisoners  of  war, 
then  numbering  five  or  six  thousand  ;  to  put  arms  into  their  hands, 
and  to  turn  over  the  city  to  indiscriminate  pillage,  rape  and  slaugh- 
ter. At  the  same  time  a  plot  was  discovered  among  the  y)risoner8  to 
co-operate  in  this  scheme,  and  a  large  nund)er  ol  knives  and  slung- 
shot  (made  by  putting  stones  into  woolen  stockiniis)  vv(M-e  deflected 
in  places  of  concealment  about  their  quarters.  To  defeat  a  plan  so 
2  • 


w 

diabolic.il,  assuredly  the  sternest  means  were  justified.  If  it  would 
have  been  right  to  put  to  death  any  one  prisoner  attempting  to  es- 
cape under  such  circumstances,  it  seems  logically  certain  that  it 
would  have  been  equally  right  to  put  to  death  any  number  making 
such  attempt.  But  in  truth  the  means  adopted  were  those  of"  hu- 
manity and  prevmti.nn,  rather  than  of  execution.  The  Confederate 
authorities  felt  able  to  meet  and  repulse  Dahlgren  and  his  raiders,  if 
they  could  prevent  the  escape  of  the  prisoners. 

The  real  object  was  to  save  their  lives  as  well  as  those  of  our  citi- 
zens. The  guard  force  at  the  prisons  was  small,  and  all  the  local  troops 
in  and  around  Richmond  were  needed  to  meet  the  threatened  attack. 
Had  the  prisoners  escaped,  the  women  and  children  of  the  city,  as 
well  as  their  homes,  would  have  been  at  the  mercy  of  five  thousand 
outlaws.  Humanity  required  that  the  most  summary  measures  should 
be  used  to  i/cter  them  from  any  attempt  at  escape.  • 

A  mine  was  prepared  under  the  Libby  prison  ;  a  sufficient  quan- 
tity of  gunpowder  was  put  into  it,  and  pains  were  taken  to  inform  the 
prisoners  that  any  attempt  at  escape  made  by  them  would  be  eftectu- 
ally  defeated.  The  plan  succeeded  perfectly.  The  prisoners  were 
awed  and  kept  quiet.  Dahlgren  and  his  party  were  defeated  and 
scattered.  The  danger  jmssed  away,  and  in  a  few  weeks  the  gun- 
powder was  removed.  Such  are  the  facts.  Your  committee  do  not 
hesitate  to  make  tpem  known,  feeling  assured  that  the  conscience  of 
the  enlightened  world  and  the  great  law  of  self-preservation  will  jus- 
tify all  that  was  done  by  our  country  and  her  officers. 

Charge  of  Infenfional  Starvation  and  Cr7/.elty. 

We  now  proceed  to  notice,  under  one  head,  the  last  and  gravest 
charge  made  in  these  publications.  They  assert  that  the  Northern 
prisoners  in  tlie  hands  of  the  Confederate  authorities  have  been 
starved,  trozen,  inhianaiily  punished,  often  confined  in  foul  and  loath- 
some quarters,  deprived  of  fresh  aii'  and  exercise,  and  neglected  and 
maltreated  in  sickness — and  that  all  this  was  done  u})on  a  deliberate, 
willful  and  long  conceived  plan  of  the  Confederatn  government  and 
officers,  for  the  [turpose  i'  desti'oying  the  lives  of  these  prisoners,  or 
of  rendering  theui  forever  incapable  of  military  vervice.  This  charge 
accuses  the  Southern  government  of  a  crime  so  horrible  and  unna- 
tural, that  it  could  never  have  been  made  except  by  those  ready  to 
blacken  with  slander  men  whom  they  have  long  injured  and  hated. 
Your  committee  fi'el  bound  to  reply  to  it  calmly  but  emphatically. 
Tliey  pronounce  it  false  in  fact  and  ii\  design;  lalse  in  the  basis  on 
which  it  assumes  to  rest,  and  false  in  its  estimate  of  the  motives 
which  have  controlled  the  Southern  authorities. 

Hvmane   Polici/  <f  the  Confederate  Government. 

At  an  early  period  in  the  present  contest  the  Confederate  govern- 
ment recognized  their  obligation  to  treat  prisoners  of  war  with  hu- 

% 


11 

manity  and  consideration.  Before  any  laws  were  passed  ton  the  sub- 
ject, the  Executive  "Department  provided  such  prisoners  as  fell  into 
their  hands,  with  proper  quarters  and  barracks  to  shelter  them,  and 
with  rations  the  same  in  quantity  and  quaJit}^  as  those  furnished  to 
the  Confederate  sohliers  who  guarded  these  prisoners.  They  also 
showed  an  earnest  wish  to  mitigate  the  sad  conditi(Ui  of  prisoners  of 
war,  by  a  system  of  fair  and  prompt  exchange — ;ind  the  Confederate 
Congress  co-operated  in  these  humane  views.  By  their  act,  approved 
on  the  21st  day  of  May  ISGi,  they  provided  that  "all  prisoners  of 
war  taken,  whether  on  land  or  at  sea,  during  the  pending  hostilities 
with  the  United  States,  sJiall  be  transferred  by  the  captors  from  time 
to  time,  and  as  often  as  convenient  to  the  Department  of  War;  and 
it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  with  the  approval  of 
the  President,  to  issue  such  instructions  to  the  Quartermaster  General 
and  his  subordinates,  as  shall  provide  for  the  safe  custody  and  suste- 
nance of  prisoners  of  wnr;  onH  the  rations  furnished  prisoners  of  W'-r 
fha/l  be  the  same  in  (juantitij  and  qvaliiy  as  those  f.ruish(d.  to  eviisted  men 
in  the  army  of  the  Coffideracy''^  Such  were  the  declared  pur[)ose  and 
policy  of  the  Confederate  government  towards  prisoners  of  war — 
and  amid  all  the  privations  and  losses  to  which  their  enemies  have 
subjected  them,  they  have  sought  to  carry  them  into  effect. 

Rations  and  General  Treatment. 

Our  investigations  for  this  preliminary  report  have  been  confined 
chiefly  to  the  rations  and  treatment  of  the  prisoners  of  war  at  the 
Libby  and  other  prisons  in  Richmond  and  on  Belle  Isle.  This  we 
have  done,  because  the  publications  to  which  we  have  alhided  refer 
chiefly  to  them,  and  because  the  "Rep«»rt  No.  (i?"  of  the  "Northern 
Congress  plaiidy  intimates  the  belief  that  the  treatment  in  and  around 
Richmond  was  worse  than  it  was  farther  South.  That  report  savs: 
"It  will  be  observed  from  the  testimony,  that  all  the  witnesses  who 
testify  u[»on  thnt  point  stnte  that  the  treatmiMit  they  received  while 
confined  at  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  I);ilton,  (leoigia,  and  other 
places,  tf^/s  /</?■  moie  humirne  than  that  they  received  at  Richmond, 
where  the  authorities  of  the  so-called  Conliederacy  were  congregated." 
Report,  p.  3. 

The  evidence  proves  that  the  rations  furnished  to  prisoners  of  war 
in  Richmond  and  on  Belle  Isle,  have  bet'n  veier  less  than  those  fur- 
nished to  the  Confederate  soldiers  who  guarded  them,  and  have  at 
some  seasons  been  larger  in  ((uantity  and  better  in  quality  than  those 
furnished  to  Confederate  troops  in  the  field.  This  has  been  because 
until  Febnuiry  1^04  the  Qnartrrmaster's  Department  furnished  the 
})risoner8,  and  oiten  had  provisions  or  funds,  when  the  Commissary 
Department  was  not  so  well  juovided.  Once  and  only  once,  tor  a 
few  weeks,  the  prisoners  were  without  n)eat ;  but  a  larger  quantity 
of  bread  and  vegetable  food  was  in  consequence  supplied  to  them. 
How  often  the  gallant  men  cc^inposing  the  Confederate  army  have  been 
witliout  meat,  for  even  longer  inlervals,  your  conmiitteedo  not  deem 
it  necessary  to  say.     Not  less  than  sixteen  ounces  ol  bread  and  tour 


12 

ounces  of  bacon,  or  six  ounces  of  beef,  together  with  beans  and  soup, 
have  been  furnished  per  day  to  the  prisoners.  During  most  of  tiae 
time  the  quantity  of  meat  furnished  to  them  has  been  greater  than 
these  amounts;  and  even  in  times  of  the  gieatest  scarcity,  they  have 
received  as  much  as  the  Southern  soldiers  who  guarded  them.  The 
scarcity  of  meat  and  of  bread  stuffs  in  the  South,  in  certain  places, 
has  been  the  result  of  the  savage  policy  of  our  enemies  in  burning 
baius  filled  with  wheat  or  corn,  destroying  agricultural  implements, 
and  driving  off  or  wantonly  butchering  hogs  and  cattle.  Yet  amid 
all  these  privations,  we  have  given  to  their  prisoners  the  rations  above 
mentioned.  It  is  well  known  that  this  quantity  of  food  is  sufficient 
to  keep  in  health  a  man  who  does  not  labor  hard.  Ail  the  learned 
disquisitions  of  Dr.  EUerslie  Wallace  ou  the  subject  of  starvation, 
might  have  been  spared,  for  they  are  all  founded  on  a  fals<^  basis.  It 
will  be  observed  that  few  (if  any)  of  the  witnesses  examined  by  the 
"sanitary  commission"  speak  with  any  accuracy  of  the  quantity  (in 
weight)  of  the  food  actually  furnished  to  them.  Tlieii-  statements 
are  merely  conjectural  and  comparative,  and  cannot  weigii  against 
the  positive  testimony  of  those  who  superintended  the  delivt-ry  of 
large  quantities  of  food,  cooked  and  distributed  according  to  a  tixed 
ratio,  for  the  number  of  men  to  be  fed. 

Falsehoods  published  as  to  Prisoners  Frtezing  on  Belle  Isle. 

The  statements  of  the  "  sanitary  commission"  as  to  prisoners  freezing 
to  death  on  Belle  Isle,  are  absurdly  false.  According  to  that  state- 
ment, it  w^as  common,  during  a  cold  spell  in  winter,  to  see  several 
prisoners  frozen  to  death  every  morning  in  the  places  in  which  they 
had  slept.  This  picture,  if  correct,  might  well  excite  our  horror; 
but  unhappily  for  its  sensational  power,  it  is  but  a  clumsy  daub, 
founded  on  tlie  fancy  of  the  painter.  The  facts  are,  that  tents  were 
furnished  sufficient  to  shelter  all  the  prisoners ;  that  the  Confederate 
Commandant  and  soldiers  on  the  Island  were  lodged  in  siniilar  tents; 
that  a  fire  was  furnished  in  each  of  them;  that  the  prisoncMs  fared  as 
well  as  their  guards  ;  and  that  only  one  of  them  was  ever  frozen  to 
death,  and  he  was  frozen  hy  the  cruelly  of  his  owi  /e/low-jrisoiiem,  who 
thrust  him  out  of  the  tent  in  a  freezing  night,  because  he  was  infested 
with  vermin.  The  proof  as  to  the  healthiness  of  the  prisoners  on 
Belle  Isle,  and  the  small  amount  of  mortality,  is  remarkable,  and 
presents  a  fit  comment  on  the  lugubrious  pictures  drawn  by  the 
"sanitary  commission,"  either  irom  their  own  fancies,  or  from  the 
fictions  put  forth  by  their  false  witnesses.  Lieut.  Bossieux  proves, 
that  from  the  establishment  of  the  prison  camp  on  Belle  Isle  in  June 
18(32,  to  the  10th  of  February  1865,  mote  than  twenty  thousand 
prisoners  had  been  at  various  times  thei-e  received,  and  yet  that  the 
whole  number  of  deaths  during  this  time,  was  only  one  hundred  and 
sixty-four.  And  this  is  confirmed  by  the  Federal  Colonel  Sanderson, 
who  states  that  the  average  number  of  deaths  per  month  on  Belle 
Isle,  was  "from  two  to  five;  more  frequently  the  lesser  number." 
The  sick  were  promptly  removed  from  the  Island  to  the  hospitals  in 
the  city. 


13 


Character  of  the  Northern  Witnesses, 

Doubtless  the  "sanitary  commission"  have  been  to  some  extent 
led  astray  by  their  own  witnesses,  whose  character  has  been  por- 
trayed by  Gen.  Neal  Dow,  and  also  b}?^  the  Editor  of  the  New  York 
Times,  who,  in  his  issue  of  January  6th,  1S65,  describes  the  material 
for  recruiting  the  Federal  armies  as  "wn-etched  vagabonds,  of  de- 
praved morals,  decrepit  in  body,  without  courage,  self-respect  or  con- 
science.    They  are  dirty,  disorderly,  thievish  and  incapable." 

Cruelty  to  Confederate  Prisoncs  at  the  North 

In  reviewing  the  charges  of  cruelty,  harshness  and  starvation  to 
prisoners,  made  by  the  North,  your  committee  have  taken  testimony 
as  to  the  treatment  of  our  own  officers  and  soldiers  in  the  hands  of 
tin;  enemy.  It  gives  us  no  ple;isiire  to  be  compeHed  to  speak  of 
suH'cring  inHictod  upon  our  g;illant  nx'u;  but  the  self-laudntory  style 
in  which  the  "sanitary  con)mis!sion"  have  spoken  of  their  prisons, 
mak«^s  it  proper  that  the  truth  should  be  presented.  Your  committee 
gladly  acknowledge  that  in  many  cases  our  prisoners  experienced 
kind  and  considerate  treatment;  but  we  are  e(jually  assured  that  in 
nenrly  all  the  prison  stations  of  the  North — at  Point  Lookout,  Fort 
Mcllenry,  Fort  Delaware,  Johnson's  Island,  Elmira,  Camp  Chase, 
Camp  Douglas,  Alton,  Camp  Morton,  the  Ohio  Penitentiary,  and  the 
prisons  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  our  men  have  suffered  from  insuf- 
ficient food,  and  have  been  subjected  to  ignominious,  cruel  and 
barbarous  practices,  of  which  tliere  is  no  parallel  in  any  thing 
tiiat  has  occurred  in  the  South.  The  witnesses  who  were  at 
Point  Lookout,  Fort  Delaware,  Camp  Morton  and  Camp  Douglas, 
testify  that  they  have  often  seen  our  men  picking  up  the  scraps 
and  refuse  thrown  out  from  the  kitchens,  with  which  to  appease 
tkeir  iumger.  Dr.  Herrington  proves  that  at  Fort  Delaware  un- 
wholesome bread  and  water  produced  diarrluea  in  numberless  cases 
among  our  prisoners,  and  that  "their  suffeiings  were  greatly  aggra- 
vated by  the  regulation  of  the  camp  which  forbade  more  than  twenty 
men  at  a  time  at  night  to  go  to  The  sinks.  I  iiave  seen  as  many  as 
five  hundred  men  in  a  row  waiting  their  time.  The  consequence 
was  that  they  were  obliged  to  use  the  places  where  they  were. 
This  produced  great  want  of  cleanliness,  and  aggravated  the  disease." 
Our  men  were  compelled  to  labor  in  unloading  Federal  vessels  and 
in  putting  up  buildmgs  for  Federal  officers,  and  if  they  refused,  were 
driven  to  the  work  wiih  clubs. 

The  treatment  of  J^rig.  Gen.  J.  H.  Morgan  and  his  officers  was 
brutal  and  ignominious  in  the  extreme.  It  will  be  foimd  stated  in 
the  depositions  of  Caj)t.  M.  I).  Logan,  Lieut.  W.  P.  Crow,  Lieut.  Col. 
James  B.  McCreary  and  Capt.  h.  A.  Tracy,  that  tliey  were  put  in 
the  Ohio  Penitentiary,  and  comjxdled  to  submit  to  the  treatment  of 
felons.  Their  beards  were  «haved,  and  their  hair  was  cut  close  to 
the  head.     They  were  confined  in  convicts'  cells,  and  forbidden  to 


speak  to  each  other.  For  attempts  to  escape,  and  for  other  offences 
of  a  ver}"^  light  character,  they  were  subjected  to  the  horrible  pun- 
ishment of  the  dungeon.  In  midwinter,  with  the  atmosphere  many 
degrees  below  zero,  without  blanket  or  overcoat,  they  were  conlin(?d 
in  a  cell  without  fire  or  light,  with  a  ftietid  and  poisonous  air  to 
breathe — and  here  they  were  kept  until  life  was  nearly  extinct. 
Their  condition  on  coming  out  was  so  deplorable  as  to  draw  tears 
from  thi'ir  comrades.  The  blood  was  oozing  from  their  hands  and 
faces.  The  treatment  in  the  St.  Louis  prison  was  equally  barbarous. 
Capt.  Wm.  H.  Sebring  testifies:  "Two  of  us,  A.  C.  Grimes  and  my- 
self, were  carried  out  into  the  open  air  in  the  prison  yard,  on  the  25th 
of  December  1863,  and  handcuffed  to  a  post.  Here  we  were  kept 
all  night  in  sleet,  snow  and  cold.  We  were  relieved  in  the  da}'^  time, 
but  again  brought  to  the  post  and  handcuffed  to  it  in  the  evening — 
and  thus  we  were  kept  all  night  until  the  2d  of  January  1SG4.  I 
was  badly  frost-bitten,  and  my  health  was  much  impaired.  This 
cruel  infliction  was  done  by  order  of  Capt.  Byrnes,  Commandant  of 
Prisons  in  St.  Louis.  He  was  barbarous  and  insulting  to  the  last 
degree." 

Our  Prisoners  put  into   Camps  infected  with  Small-pox. 

But  even  a  greater  inhumanity  than  any  we  have  mentioned,  was 
perpetrated  upon  our  prisoners  at  Camp  Douglas  and  Camp  Chase. 
It  is  proved  by  the  testimony  of  Thomas  P.  Holloway,  John  P.  Fen- 
nell,  H.  H.  Barlow,  H.  C.  Barton,  C.  D.  Bracken  and  J.  S.  Barlow, 
that  our  prisoners  in  large  numbers  were  put  into  "  condemned  camps," 
where  small-pox  was  prevailing,  and  speedily  contracted  this  loath- 
some disease,  and  that  as  many  as  40  new  cases  often  appeared  daily 
among  them.  Even  the  Federal  officers  who  guar- led  them  to  the 
camp,  protested  against  this  unnatural  atrocity  ;  yet  it  was  done. 
The  men  who  contracted  the  disease  were  removed  to  a  hospital 
about  a  mile  off,  but  the  plague  was  already  introduced,  and  continu#d 
to  prevail.  For  a  period  of  more  than  twelve  months  the  disease  was 
constantly  in  the  camp;  yet  our  prisoners  during  all  this  time  were 
continually  brought  to  it,  and  subjected  to  certain  infection.  Neither 
do  we  find  evidences  of  amendment  on  the  part  of  our  enemies,  not- 
withstanding the  boasts  of  the  "  sanitary  commission."  At  Nashville, 
prisoners  recently  captured  from  Gen.  Hood's  army,  even  when  sick 
and  wounded,  have  been  cruelly  deprived  of  all  nourishment  suited  to 
their  condition  ;  and  other  prisoners  from  the  same  army  have  been 
carried  into  the  infected  Camps  Douglas  and  Chase. 

Many  of  the  soldiers  of  Gen.  Hood's  army  were  frost-bitten  by 
being  kept  day  and  night  in  an  exposed  condition  before  they  were 
put  into  Camp  Douglas.  Their  sufferings  are  truthfully  depicted  in 
the  evidence.  At  Alton  and  Camp  Morton  the  same  inhuman  prac- 
tice of  putting  our  prisoners  into  camps  infected  by  small-pox,  pre- 
vailed. It  was  equivalent  to  murdering  many  of  them  by  the  torture 
of  a  contagious  disease.  The  insuthcient  rations  at  Camp  Morton 
forced  our  men  to  appease  their  hunger  by  pounding  up  and  boiling 


15 

bones,  picking  up  scraps  of  meat  and  cabbage  from  the  hospital  slop 
tubs,  and  even  eating  rats  and  dogs.  The  depositions  of  William 
Ayres  and  J.  Chambers  Brent  prove  these  privations. 

Barbarous  Punishments. 

The  punishments  often  inflicted  on  our  men  for  slight  offences, 
have  been  shameful  and  barbarous.  They  have  been  compelled  to 
ride  a  plank  only  four  inches- wide,  called  "Morgan's  horse;"  to  sit 
down  with  their  naked  bodies  in  the  snow  for  ten  or  fifteen  minutes, 
and  have  been  subjected  to  the  ignominy  of  stripes  from  the  belts  of 
their  guards.  The  pretext  has  been  used,  that  many  of  their  acts 
of  cruelty  have  been  by  way  of  retaliation.  But  no  evidence  has 
been  found  to  prove  such  acts  on  the  part  of  the  ConfediM-ate  autho- 
rities. It  is  remarkable  that  in  the  cast;  of  Col.  Streight  and  his  otli- 
cers,  they  yfcve  subjected  only  to  the  ordinary  confinement  of  prison- 
ers of  war.  No  special  punishment  was  used  except  for  specific 
offences;  and  then  the  greatest  infliction  was  to  confine  Col.  Streight 
for  a  few  weeks  in  a  basement  room  of  the  Libby  prison,  with  a 
window,  a  plank  floor,  a  stove,  a  fire,  and  plenty  o("  fuel. 

We  do  not  deem  it  necessary  to  dwell  further  on  these  subjects. 
Enough  has  been  [)roved  to  show  that  great  privations  and  sufferings 
have  been  boine  by  the  prisoners  on  both  sides. 

Why  have  not  Prisoners  of  War  been  Exchanged, 

But  the  question  forces  itself  upon  us  why  have  these  sufferings 
been  so  long  continued?  Why  have  not  the  prisoners  of  war  been 
exchanged,  and  thus  some  of  the  darkest  pages  of  history  spared  to 
the  world?  In  the  answer  to  this  question  must  be  found  the  test  of 
responsibility  for  all  tht;  sufferings,  sickness  and  heart-broken  sorrow 
that  have  visited  more  than  eighty  thousand  prisoneis  within  the 
past  two  years.  On  this  question,  your  conunittee  can  only  say  that 
the  Confederate  authorities  have  always  desired  a  pronjpt  and  fair 
exchange  of  prisoners.  Even  before  the  establishment  of  a  cartel 
they  urged  such  exchange,  but  could  never  effect  it  by  agreement 
until  the  large  preponderance  of  j)risoners  in  our  hands  made  it  the 
interest  of  the  Federal  authoritit'S  to  consent  to  the  cartel  of  July 
2iJ(l,  18G3.  The  9th  article  of  that  agreement  expressly  provided, 
that  in  case  any  misunderstanding  should  arise,  it  should  not  interrupt 
the  rchiise  of  jirisoucrs  on  jiarolc,  but  should  be  made  the  subject  of 
friendly  explanaiion.  Soon  alter  this  cartel  was  established,  the 
poliey  of  the  eueniy  in  seducing  negro  slaves  from  their  masters, 
arniingthem  and  |>uttingwiiiteorticers  over  them  to  lead  them  against 
us,  g.ive  rise  to  a  few  cases  in  which  questions  of  crime  under  the 
internal  laws  ot  the  Southern  States  appeared.  Whether  men  who 
enc(»uraged  insurrection  ai  d  murder  could  be  held  entitled  to  the 
privileges  of  })risoners  of  war  under  tlie  cartel,  was  a  grave  question. 
But  tliese  cases  were  few  in  number,  and  ought  never  to  have  inter- 


16 

rupted  the  general  exchange.  We  were  always  ready  and  anxious  to 
carrj'^  out  the  cartel  in  its  true  meaning,  and  it  is  certain  that  the  9th 
article  required  that  the  prisoners  on  both  sides  should  be  released, 
and  that  the  few  cases  as  to  which  misunderstanding  occurred  should 
be  left  for  final  decision.  Doubtless  if  the  preponderance  of  prisoners 
had  continued  with  us,  exchanges  would  have  continued.  But  the 
fortunes  of  war  threw  the  larger  number  into  the  hands  of  our  ene- 
mies. Then  they  refused  further  exchanges — and  for  twenty-two 
months  this  policy  has  continued.  Our  Commissioner  of  Exchange 
has  made  constant  efforts  to  renew  them.  In  August  1864  he  con- 
sented to  a  proposition  which  had  been  repeatedly  made,  to  exchange 
officer  for  officer  and  man  for  man,  leaving  the  surplus  in  captivity. 
Though  this  was  a  departure  from  the  cartel,  our  anxiety  for  the  ex- 
change induced  us  to  consent.  Yet,  the  Federal  authorities  repu- 
diated their  previous  offi^'r,  and  refused  even  this  partial  coiiipliance 
with  the  cartel.  Secretary  Stanton,  who  has  unjustly  charged  the 
Confederate  authorities  with  inhumanity,  is  open  to  the  charge  of 
having  done  all  in  his  power  to  prevent  a  fair  exchange,  and  thus  to 
prolong  the  suflerings  of  which  he  speaks :  and  very  recently,  in  a 
letter  over  his  signature,  Benjamin  F.  Butler  has  declared  that  in 
April  1864,  the  Federal  Lieut.  General  Grant  forbade  him  "  to  deliver 
to  the  Rebels  a  single  able-bodied  man  :"  and  moreover.  Gen.  Butler 
acknowledges  that  in  answer  to  Col.  Quid's  letter  consenting  to  the 
exchange,  officer  for  officer  and  man  for  man,  he  wrote  a  reply,  "  not 
diplomatically  but  obtrusively  and  demonstratively,  7iot  for  the  jmr- 
pose  of  furthering  exchange  of  prisoners,  but  for  the  purpose  of  pre- 
venting and  stopping  the  exchange,  and  furnishing  a  ground  on  which 
we  could  fairly  stnndy 

These  facts  abundantly  show  that  the  responsibility  of  refusing  to 
exchange  prisoners  of  war  rests  with  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  people  who  have  sustained  that  government ;  and 
every  sigh  of  captivity,  every  groan  of  suffering,  every  heart  broken 
by  hope  deferred  among  these  eighty  thousand  prisoners,  will  accuse 
them  in  the  judgment  of  the  just. 

With  regard  to  the  prison  stations  at  Andersonville,  Salisbury  and 
other  places  south  of  Richmond,  your  committee  have  not  made 
extended  examination,  for  reasons  which  have  ali'eady  been  stated. 
We  are  satisfied  that  privation,  suflering  and  mortality,  to  an  extent 
much  to  be  regretted,  did  prevail  among  the  pi'isoners  there,  but 
they  were  not  the  result  of  neglect,  still  less  of  design  on  the  part 
of  the  Confederate  government.  Haste  in  preparation ;  crowded 
quarters,  prepared  only  for  a  smaller  number;  want  of  transporta- 
tion and  scarcity  of  food,  have  all  resulted  from  the  pressure  of  the 
war,  and  the  barbarous  manner  in  which  it  has  been  conducted  by 
our  enemies.  Upon  these  subjects  your  committee  propose  to  take 
further  evidence,  and  to  report  more  fully  hereafter. 

But  even  now  enough  is  known  to  vindicate  the  South,  and  to  fur- 
nish an  overwhelming  answer  to  all  complaints  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States  government  or  people,  that  their  prisoners  were  stinted 
in  food  or  supplies.     Their  own  savage  warfare  has  wrought  all  the 


17 

evil.  They  have  blockaded  our  porta;  have  excluded  from  us  food, 
clothing  and  medicines;  have  even  declared  medicines  contraband  of 
war,  and  have  repeatedly  destroyed  the  contents  of  drug  stores  and 
the  supplies  of  private  physicians  in  the  country  ;  have  ravaged  our 
country ;  burned  our  houses,  and  destroyed  growing  crops  and  farm- 
ing implements.  One  of  their  officers  (General  Sheridan)  has  boasted 
in  his  official  report,  that  in  the  Shenandoah  valley  alone  he  burned 
two  thousand  barns  filled  with  wheat  and  corn;  that  he  burned  all 
the  mills  in  the  whole  tract  of  country;  destroyed  all  the  factories 
of  cloth,  and  killed  or  drove  off  every  animal,  even  to  the  poultry, 
that  could  contribute  to  human  sustenance.  These  desolations  have 
been  repeattid  jiguin  and  again  in  different  parts  of  the  South.  Thou- 
sands of  our  families  have  been  driven  from  thtnr  homes,  as  helpless 
and  destitute  refuge(>s.  Our  enemies  have  destroyed  the  rail  roads 
and  other  means  of  transportation,  by  which  food  could  be  supplied 
from  abundant  districts  to  those  without  it.  While  thus  desolatinjj 
our  country,  in  violation  of  the  usages  of  civilized  warfare,  they  have 
refused  to  exchange  prisoners;  have  forced  us  to  keep  fifty  thousand 
of  their  men  in  captivity — and  yet  have  attempted  to  attribute  to  us 
the  siiffeiings  and  privations  caused  by  their  own  acts.  We  cannot 
doubt  that  in  the  view  of  civilization  we  shall  stand  acquitted,  while 
they  must  be  condemned. 

In  concluding  this  preliminary  report,  we  will  notice  the  strange 
perversily  of  interpretation  which  has  induced  the  "sanitary  com- 
mission" to  affix  as  a  motto  to  their  pamphlet,  the  words  of  the  com- 
passionate Redeemer  of  mankind  : 

"  For  I  was  an  hungered  and  )'^e  gav(»  me  no  meat :  I  was  thirsty 
and  ye  gave  me  no  diink  :  I  was  a  stranger  and'  ye  took  me  not  in  : 
naked  and  ye  clothed  me  not:  sick  and  in  prison  and  ye  visited  me  not." 

We  have  yet  to  learn  on  what  principle  the  Federal  mercenaries, 
sent  with  arms  in  their  hands  to  destroy  the  lives  of  our  people;  to 
waste  our  land,  burn  our  houses  and  barns,  and  drive  us  from  our 
homes,  can  be  regarded  by  us  as  the  followers  of  the  meek  and  lowly 
Redeemer,  so  as  to  claim  the  benefit  of  his  words.  Yet  even  these 
merc(Miaries,  when  taken  captive  by  us,  have  been  treated  with  pro- 
per humanity.  The  cruelties  inflicted  on  our  prisoners  at  the  North 
may  well  justify  us  in  ii])|)lying  to  the  "sanitary  commission"  the 
stern  words  of  the  Divine  Teacher:  "  Thou  hypocrite,  first  cast  out 
the  beam  out  of  thine  own  eye,  and  then  shalt  thou  see  clearly  to 
cast  out  the  mote  out  of  thy  brother's  eye." 

We  believe  that  there  are  many  thousands  of  just,  honorable  and 
humane  peo})le  in  the  United  States,  upon  whom  this  subject,  thus 
presented,  will  not  be  lost;  that  they  wdl  do  all  they  can  to  mitigate 
the  horrors  of  war ;  to  complete  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  now 
haj)pily  in  progress,  and  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  such  sufferinga 
as  have  been  narrated.  And  we  repeat  the  words  of  the  Confederate 
Congress,  in  their  Manifesto  of  the  14th  of  June  1804: 

"We  conunit  our  cause  to  the  enlightened  judgment  of  the  world; 
to  the  sober  reflections  of  our  adversaries  themselves,  and  to  the 
solemn  and  righteous  arbitrament  of  Heaven." 
3 


